Arc | Chapter. 111: Flesh of Dragons (Patreon)

Chapter. 111: Flesh of Dragons

Meika trembled as she stared at the chunk of flesh within Arc’s hands. It seemed to even be freezing from her touch. Was she seriously expected to eat that thing…? Meika hesitated for a moment but as she looked up, she saw the Heroine of Frost’s cold eyes and immediately realized she was serious.

Meika took a deep breath and stepped forward, grabbing the frosty flesh off the woman’s hand. She was shaking⁠— she really didn’t want to eat such a disgusting thing. Even as an adventurer she had her limits⁠. She couldn’t imagine anyone eating raw dragon flesh, and yet here she was.

“I-Is one bite fine…?” she asked nervously.

“One good bite, yes.” Arc nodded.

Meika swallowed.

It was just a one time thing… She just had to take a bite and it would be over. She would be safe from the heroine. Then hopefully, she could take shelter with Faral. Hopefully her mentor would allow her to stay away from Arc…

Taking a deep breath, Meika raised her hand holding the frozen meat and⁠— bit.

She tore off a chunk and forcefully swallowed as she immediately felt like gagging. A weird texture passed through her mouth, as if she was savoring the scales of a fish⁠— it traveled down along with the bite and disappeared deep into her stomach as she began to feel odd.

“There… I did it, it’s fine now right…?”

In response, the Heroine of Frost nodded at her and Meika breathed a sigh of relief. Though something was wrong… she felt as if her whole being was changing, and then it began. She collapsed on the ground as a sharp pain erupted around her body.

Arc raised her brow with curiosity, and yet Meika didn’t know what was happening until a notification came:

[ You have ingested a blood biotoxin of draconic origins. ]

[ You’re now on the process of becoming a Dragonkin. ]

Her mind whirled as she processed what she was seeing.

A… dragonkin…?

Then, she fainted.

* * * * *

At first I had worried about giving Meika the flesh of the Dragon of Bones instead of the Dragon of Space, but after she lost consciousness I knew it had been for the best. Though I still made sure to take a piece of flesh of the Dragon of Space along — freezing it for future preservation.

I had been slightly worried about Faral's reaction but it turns out it was unfounded. The first thing she did after seeing the both of us is give me a nod of approval. She even seemed slightly happy at seeing Meika in such a state.

Now, we were gathered at the feet of the bed; all of us including Regis'karr and Malz.

We all watched Meika undergo slight changes in her appearance, such as her nails growing or even her skin developing a slightly paler complexion. They were all the changes I would have gone through if I hadn't interfered with the transformation process after consuming the flesh of the Dragon of Frost. However, they were slow. Painfully so.

Upon asking Faral about it she did say it was normal and I was the abnormal one, so in the end we waited.

However, contrary to expectations, a day passed; two days passed, three… four.

It quickly became a week.

I spent that time going around with Ceylon and uncovering things about the Orow family, but not much had been found other than odd behaviors and mannerisms in their finances ⁠— they seemed to be buying salt in large quantities ⁠— but it was so out of my depth that I didn’t really understand anything.

Aside from the fact that none of its public figures were seen often, there was nothing much to investigate. Though, a message had reached us from the Dragon of Water.

Through Thomas’ help he found out that the Orow family had deep involvement with the ceremony and election of the new king. Which, given the dialogue I had had with Iris, it didn’t surprise me. After all, she herself had suggested rigging the elections…

So the elections were probably going to be rigged…

With that in mind, I had left Malz and Ceylon to their own devices for a bit.

Shaking my head I stepped onto the inn only to find Faral coming towards us. I thought she was supposed to be checking on Meika.

“Where were you?”

She blinked. “Oh, I was becoming an adventurer.”

“Becoming an adventurer?” I raised my brow.

She nodded and showed me her adventurer tag⁠— except it was pitch black with golden engravings. I blinked reading what it said.

Name: Faral. Registered in Vaelith Branch. Tier: S+

I paused for a moment. “Why is there a plus?”

“Oh, because I’m stronger than most S Tier adventurers I guess?”

“Right…”

I did remember she had exposed her identity to the Adventurer’s Guild and done other things. I didn’t know the extent of things, but I did think it was best I didn’t get involved too much. Not like I cared too much about it at this point, but if I could avoid it then I would.

Faral stowed it again, and with that our interaction ended as we headed back to check on Meika.

I had offered Ceylon to eat a part of the Dragon of Space but she had instantly refused, so after that in regards to dragons I had also looked into the sightings and casualties. Though after my scuffle with the Dragon of Bones, and the Dragon of Space the casualties had greatly reduced across all of Draliz. At least based on information I could gather.

So, with that taken care of, I could focus on the situation at hand.

Looking into what was going to happen during the ceremony and also, seeing how strong Meika became after the fact.

Faral and I opened the door only to find the adventurer awake, sitting on her bed.

She looked almost the same, except parts of her skin had visible scales. Then she turned; her pupils were now akin to diamonds rather than circles. She met my gaze, a mixture of emotions passing through her. Finally, after a moment, she spoke.

“Why?”

“Because you needed to grow stronger,” I explained simply.

She took a breath and nodded, then looked down and saw her rather sharpened nails and then felt around her head pausing as she massaged a spot on her hair. If I was honest, the changes had been overall subtle; if no one paid attention, Meika looked human, and also she had undergone positive changes in her appearance making it more youthful in general.

“Did you know about its effects?”

“I didn’t know about the extent of the physical ones, but the strength and attribute changes⁠— yes.” I raised my brow. “Do you hate it?”

“I don’t, but it will take some getting used to.” She sighed. “I would have been onboard if you just explained what would happen rather than order me to consume it.”

“Right…” That had been rather, shitty of me. “I’m sorry.”

She shook her head and turned to Faral. Her countenance rapidly changed as she looked rather apologetic.

“Mentor…” Meika swallowed. “Now I'm part dragon… is that… acceptable?”

“It is fine, Meika. If your training continued, I can’t deny that I’d consider doing the same thing Arc did.”

That reply made Meika pause and then slowly nod.

“So, it’s just expediting part of training?”

“You could say that,” Faral said simply. “Now it won’t be an issue for the future.”

“I see…” Meika nodded and slowly smiled. “That is nice…”

I raised my brow and she turned to me, her smile widening.

“Thank you, Arc. For the opportunity.”

I blinked. “Right, you’re welcome.”

Shortly after, Meika and Faral set off in the name of training. Some special training it seemed. I didn’t choose to tag along since I had things to do.

After they left, I headed back to meet with Ceylon and Malz; the meeting point was the Orow’s family residence. I had no idea what Regis’karr was even doing, or where he had disappeared to, but I didn’t pay too much attention to what he was doing as of late.

Whether he was doing something important or just doing some research⁠— I didn’t really care.

Instead, I took in the scenery of Vaelith.

Unlike other cities of Draliz, this one was cleaner and the people seemed to be overall more wealthy. Which either gave me looks of scorn or⁠— people would stop to ask me what kind of fabric my clothes were made out of. It was a rather weird experience.

The architecture in particular was rather colorful in spite of the rather white appearance that was portrayed when we first arrived. It was… nice.

I liked Vaelith.

Though perhaps it was too civilized for me. Then again I never enjoyed the outdoors; I much preferred to stay inside and do my own thing⁠— which was weird given my goals, but I liked the repetitiveness of a routine.

Which unfortunately was much easier said than done.

I shook my head and carried on, and just a few minutes later I arrived near the Orow’s residence, where Malz and Ceylon were waiting.

“So, how did it go with the transformed girl?”

“Meika?” I asked and Malz nodded, confirming her question. “She seems to be doing fine, not many physical changes.”

“Shame, I was hoping she’d grow a tail and gigantic horns.” Malz smiled. “That’d be very endearing after all.”

“I don’t think that’d be good for her.”

Malz said nothing and Ceylon spoke to me.

“Ignoring that, something interesting happened,” she said, taking a breath.

I raised my brow. “What happened?”

“Oh, it was…” Malz tilted her head. “The guards around the property began to behave rather strangely. They all… coordinated?”

“Coordinated?” I asked in confusion.

“Yeah.” Ceylon nodded. “They basically acted in unison, their actions all the same. It almost felt as if an outside force was controlling them⁠—”

“Like robots,” I surmised.

Ceylon tilted her head in confusion and Malz thought. “Just because I’ve heard the term before doesn’t mean I understand it.”

“Right⁠— machines,” I corrected and got more nods.

“Yeah, like machines…” Ceylon pursed her lips. “It’s just weird… We’ve been here for quite some time and not a single soul has entered or left the house. All that happened was… the guards all rushed inside in a rather soulless manner and now there is silence.”

I nodded, confused about what was happening as well.

“So I guess now we just wait?”

My question was met with nods as we turned to look at the residence. There was some silence and I frowned. Something was clearly off, but as I just stared I couldn’t help but ask.

“I wonder how long it will take⁠—”

And at that moment the residence exploded⁠— a flaming torrent of fire erupted into the sky as ashes immediately began to rain.

* * * * *

The Hero of Flames was finally beginning to recover.

Things were going smoothly with the ceremony. Thankfully no one dared to try to go after Arc, so he could forget about that for now and instead focus his energies in taking over Draliz.

That said…

Jaye frowned as he rested on the bed. The injuries inflicted by the Heroine of Frost still there, paining him. The Hero of Spirits had interacted with the Heroine of Frost. The extent of their interactions wasn’t something Jaye knew but he would have certainly preferred if there had been no contact.

He grabbed onto his chest.

“So in the end, I may have to fight her to the death…”

He shook his head and closed his eyes.

In the end, he’d have to clean up after the Hero of Spirits, though thankfully all the man had to do was stay alive a week longer…

Then, everything would be taken care of.